Theodore shaets



(No Model.)

T. SHARTS.

MANUFACTURE OF ILLUMINATING TILES FOR SIDEWALKS, &o. No. 375,101. Patented Deg. 20,1887.

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T0 on whom it may concern:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE SHARTS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MANUFACTURE OF lLLUMINATlNG-TILES FOR SIDEWALKS, 86c.

SPECIFICATION forming part. of Letters Patent No. 375,101, dated December 20, 1887,

Application filed August 23, 1887. Serial No. 247,640. (No model.)

Be it known that I, THEODORE SHARTS, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city, county, and State of New York, have in vented a new and useful Improvement in the Manufacture of Illuminating-Tiles for Sidewalks, Areas, Roofs, Stoops, &c., of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the construction of the supporting-bars for illuininatingtiles, the

construction of the tiles, and the method offastening the tiles to the supporting-bars, by which great economy is secured in the cost of the manufacture of the tiles, &c.

In the drawings that serve to illustrate my invention, Figure l is a top View of two sections of illuminating tiles or gratings, their junctions being over the center line of the underlying supporting-bar,with glass lenses over the lightopenings of the tiles and a concrete filling upon the tiles flush with the surface of the lenses, a part of the concrete being broken away, exposing the bed-plate of the tiles, the screw-bolts, nuts, &c. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section taken on the line X X of Fig. 3 is a top view of two sections of old-style iron and glass illumating-tiles with their junction over the center line of the underlying supporting-bar and glass lenses inserted in the light-openings. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section taken on the line Y Y of Fig. 3.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.

The letter A designates the bed plate or grating of the tiles filled with concrete; A, the grating of the old-style iron and glass tile; B and B, the supporting-bars underlying the tiles at their junctions; O and C, the inverted screw-bolts, their heads being embedded in the supporting-bars; D, the glass lenses of the concrete tiles; E, the concrete filling; a and a,

the light'openings through the tiles; b and b, the top surfaces of the supporting-bars; e and e, the nuts on the screw-bolts; f, the filling in the recesses of the knob-tiles covering the nuts and screw-bolts; D", the glass lenses of the old-style iron tiles; 9, the half-round recesses in the iron and glass tile; F and F, the upper ends of the rivets.

Manufacturers of illuminating-tiles, vaultlights, &c., have been. accustomed in preparing their tiles or gratings and supporting-bars to drill and countersink a series of holes for the reception of screw-bolts at proper intervals along or near the edge of the gratings. These gratings are then placed in the positions they are'to occupy on the supporting-bars, the gratings forming a junction with each other over the center line of the supporting-bars. Holes are then drilled into or through the flanges of the supporting-bars to correspond with those on the tiling above for. the reception of screwbolts. These holes are then either tapped to fit the screw of the screw-bolt or bored through the flanges of the supporting-bar and ascrew-bolt inserted and fastened by anut. The two rows of bolt-holes of the gratings necessitates a bearingbeain to have a top surface sufficiently wide to allow the drilling of the holesinto them. Most of this drilling is generally done on the ground where the work is to be placed. Consequently only hand-drills and taps can be used. This process forms alarge item of the expense ofmanufacturing and placing in position the illuminating tiles or gratings. To economize this expense in the saving of time, labor, wear and tear of tools, 850., is the object of my invention.

This result is accomplished, first, by having screw-bolts O and O with their heads embedded in the castings of the supporting-bars B and B at proper intervals along the center line, the screw part of the bolt protruding upward from the supporting-bars. The heads of these bolts are set into the patterns of the supporting-bar at the foundrysay half an inch below the surface of the supporting-bar-the remaining screw part being embedded in the sand ofthe cope. WVhent-he cope is raised, the screw-bolts will be covered in the sand, except the portion which is sunk in the pattern of the supporting-bar. The pattern being withdrawn from the sand and the cope again closed over the mold, the headset the screw-bolts protruding from the cope will hang downward into the cavity of the mold. The melted iron flowing into the mold will surround the exposed portion of the screw-bolts, so, when the castings cool, the heads of the screw-bolts will be found firmly embedded in the casting, the screw part of the bolt protruding upward.

Second. Along the edges of the patterns of the tiles or gratings I make half-round holes sufficiently large to cover one-half the screwbolt. These half-round holes are made the exact spaces apart to conform to the screw-bolts in the supporting-bar. The tiles cast from these patterns being brought in junction with each other along the center line of the supporting- .bar, the half-round holes on the edge of each tile will completely surround the screw-bolts. In this position I put washers and nuts 6 and e on the screw-bolts, which firmly fasten the two adjoining gratings A A and A A to the supporting-barbeneath. Thescrew-boltsprotrude above the supporting-bar a sufficent length to pass through the gratings and the washers and nuts. By this method all drilling and countersinking and tapping are avoided, butasingle row of screw-bolts is required, both gratings are fastened in their places by the same row of bolts, the top surface of the supportingbar can be made much narrower, and much of the handling of the tiles is avoided.

When the gratings to be used are calculated to be covered with a concrete filling, E, flush with the surface of the glass lenses D, placed over the light-openings of the gratings, the portion of the screw of the screw-bolt and nut that protrudes above the face of the casting of the grating is entirely covered by and embedded in the concrete filling.

In adapting my method to the old style of iron and glass tiling, usually known as knobtiles,Imakehalf-roundrhcessesalong the edge of the tiles or gratings large and deep enough to allow the insertion of the end of the screw bolts and nuts, with sufficient space above them to cover them with melted metal or hard cement, f, flush with the surface of the tiles. The bottom of the recesses 9 have half round holes for the reception of the screw-bolts, the distances between each conformingto thescrewbolts 0 G on the supporting-bars B B, the edges ofthe tile being brought in junction with each other. The half-round bolt-holes will surround the bolts,as above stated, the washers and nuts ee of the screw-bolts firmly fastening the edges of both tiles A A at the same time.

the supporting-bar, as above mentioned, the

remaining part of the rivet-bolt protruding above the casting of the tile or grating sufficientl y to allow a substantial rivet-head to be formed, in order to firmly fasten the tiles or gratings to the supporting-bar beneath.

I do not confine myself to any special kind of illuminating tiles or gratings, as my method is equally applicable to all.

The principal features of my invention 0011- sist in the production of a supporting-bar having the heads of the screw or rivet bolts 0 G and F F firmly embedded in it, the screw or rivet part protruding upward and surrounded by the half-round holes along the edges of the tiles or gratings, the two adjoining edges ofthe tiles being fastened to the supporting-bar by a single row of rivet-boltsor bolts and nuts, obviating the necessity of drilling, countersinking, tapping, extra handling, &c.

Having thus fully described my invention and illustrated its advantages over the present methods adopted in the manufacture of illuminating tiles, &c., particularly on the score of economy, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination of a supporting-bar for illuminating-tiles, which has screw or rivet bolts cast into its top surface, the heads of the bolts being 'firmly embedded in the casting, the remaining part of the bolts protruding upward from the supporting-bar, with illuminating tiles or gratings which have a series of half round boltholes along their edges at their junctions for the reception of bolts, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

THEODORE SHARTS.

\Vitncsses:

J .H. GooDwIN, R0. L. CLUTTER. 

